Dome diseases: party competition, legislative oversight and government accountability in three Canadian provinces

This project compares the structure and operations of the provincial legislatures of British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario over approximately fifteen years to evaluate the ways in which their effectiveness at holding government accountable is enhanced or diminished by differing systems of party competition. British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario exemplify polarized two party, single party dominant and multi party systems, respectively. To evaluate the effectiveness of the legislatures under study, this project focuses on three areas: the independence of each legislature and its committees from the government, the autonomy of the legislature in managing its affairs and the degree to which it can meaningfully impact public policy. Results are mixed; while party competition appears to have caused significant differences in some measures of legislative effectiveness, others are less clear. Moreover, the differences between legislatures appear to be diminishing over time.